Developers and publishers must learn from expert disrupters such as Netflix and Amazon to survive in the rapidly evolving games industry. That was the message delivered by Andrew Wilson, the worldwide head of development for EA Sports, during the opening keynote of this year's Develop conference.

In a talk titled Gaming 3.0: Moving the Goalposts he raised the subject of Amazon's Whispersync feature, which allows customers to download a digital book for one price and then read it on whichever format they like from PCs to smartphones and Kindle, without having to pay again for each platform. He suggested that eventually EA Sports may well move toward the same model with its own games, even providing all of its titles, from Fifa and Madden to Tiger Woods PGA Tour golf, for one fixed price on multiple platforms – all linked by the same social gaming ecosystem.

"It's about handing over control to the gamer," he said. "Ultimately, what we want to get to is this concept where we break down the barriers between the franchises. John Riccitiello our CEO says it seems like such a waste – we spend $20-40m making each of these games, but most gamers only ever play one, because the business model is an impediment. So how about we drive toward a model where every gamer can experience everything we make without paying that much more money. You've got to recognise that given the opportunity, the consumer will play and they will bring their friends."

Wilson also discussed the huge changes brought about by new gaming platforms such as smartphones, social networks and tablets, as well as by emerging digital income models like free-to-play. Name-checking social gaming behemoth Zynga, which is now turning over $1bn a year in revenue from Facebook titles such as Farmville, he stated: "Games based around micro-transactions means that anyone can get in, we've lowered the barrier of entry – it's iPhone, it's Android, it's tablet – all of these things now deliver a ubiquitous service of digital gaming that means that just about anyone can be part of it."

Social and casual games have, he said, massively expanded the global gaming audience from 250 million a couple of years ago to 1.2 billion – but that this audience has radically different demands than the traditional 'core' gamers. Just as consumers have taken control of music delivery by abandoning CDs in favour of digital downloads, and just as TV viewers have moved away from schedules toward content-on-demand, he sees the future of interactive entertainment being all games available on all platforms when the gamer wants them.

"Consumers are saying 'we're no longer going to line up at Gamestop en masse and give you money. We want to see an evolution in this space, we want to take control of games on the same way as we have taken control of music and movies.'"

For EA Sports, the social ecosystem is the central component. At E3 this year, the company announced the EA Sports Football Club, a social networking feature designed to facilitate online play between friends, and also to provide gamers with an in-game identity that exists between all versions of Fifa, including console and smartphone. Wilson claimed that EA Sports would be rolling out similar services on all its titles over the next year.

The key to survival in the current industry, he concluded, was to embrace radical change, and to stay one step ahead of the contemporary business model. It is also about dropping the idea of one-off retail releases and adopting a more expansive digital model – in the future EA Sports could well be a service, like a TV channel, in which golf, football, American football, etc, are all accessible and downloadable for one fee.

"Our vision is to move away from having your company or your platform at the centre of your creative vision an put the consumer there instead – because the reality is, they will put themselves there regardless of what you do. And you must provide opportunities for them to come in to contact with everything you make, on every platform that's available.

"They will use technology against you, unless you empower them to work with you. You need to offer one connected experience. Netflix, Apple and Amazon have all demonstrated how this works in other industries – the reality is, it will be the same for us…"